American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) Shares Sold by Stack Financial Management Inc

Stack Financial Management Inc lowered its position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 164,511 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,199 shares during the period. Stack Financial Management Inc's holdings in American Electric Power were worth $13,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company's stock worth $2,150,657,000 after buying an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 4.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after purchasing an additional 587,145 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in American Electric Power by 13.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $737,021,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company's stock valued at $580,308,000 after acquiring an additional 374,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in American Electric Power by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,428,035 shares of the company's stock valued at $333,077,000 after buying an additional 98,897 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on AEP shares. UBS Group downgraded shares of American Electric Power from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $86.00 to $83.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Cfra restated a "buy" rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up previously from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Electric Power from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $92.00 to $86.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of American Electric Power from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.08.

American Electric Power Stock Down 1.8 %

AEP traded down $1.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $85.26. 2,975,683 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,758,052. The stock has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.51. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.38 and a twelve month high of $93.56. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $83.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.26 by ($0.03). American Electric Power had a net margin of 11.64% and a return on equity of 11.04%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. American Electric Power's revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. American Electric Power's payout ratio is presently 82.82%.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.